Richard Armitage, Ingrate

Jun 6, 2007

RUSH: Our friends at Power Line found this. They examined a letter that Paul Wolfowitz wrote to the judge in the Scooter Libby case trying to influence the judge, Scooter’s good works, and get a reduced sentence. You have to hear this. It’s an excerpt from the letter that Paul Wolfowitz wrote to Judge Reggie Walton. ‘I also remember how Mr. Libby offered his services pro bono or at reduced costs…’ he was a lawyer ‘… after he had returned to private law practice – to help former colleagues and friends with legal issues. In one case he helped a public official defend himself against libelous accusations, something that is extremely difficult to do for anyone in public office. The official in question was Richard Armitage…’ I got a chill up my spine when I read this today on the Power Line blog. ‘The official in question was Richard Armitage, who more recently served as Deputy Secretary of State.’ David Frum actually had this, too, at National Review Online.

Armitage is the leaker. This investigation should have been shut down; it should have never started. The trial should have never started because Fitzfong had exactly what he needed before he even started this stuff. Armitage was the leaker. Armitage sat by and watched Scooter Libby twist in the wind, sits by now and does nothing to help him, and yet it was Libby who helped Armitage either pro bono or at reduced prices, reduced costs, defend himself against accusations of libel. Man, that town, folks, is a cesspool of me-ism. This still burns me. By the way, the judge here, ‘I’m not inclined to let Scooter Libby stay outta jail during the appeal. The truth stands; the truth means something in my court.’ They’ve given his lawyers until tomorrow to file a brief making their case for Scooter to remain free on appeal. I don’t know. I’m still steaming about it.

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RUSH: We’ll go to Maui and this is John. Thank you, sir. Welcome to the EIB Network.

CALLER: Yeah, thank you, Rush. Get your clubs and your fast backswing and some cash and come on out.

RUSH: I’m going to be there in August, but I’m not going to be in Maui. By the way, why do I need to bring cash?

CALLER: We play for keeps.

RUSH: Oh, and I’m going to lose to you? Is that the deal? Where do you play in Maui?

CALLER: I usually play right here at Maui Country Club. There was a time when I used to go to resort courses and such, but I grew out of that because I can’t play well at them. Anyway, on the Valerie Plame situation, just a couple things. One, the sentence that Scooter Libby got in light of what happened to Sandy Berger was just an outrage, but more importantly, to begin with, Plame was not ‘outable’ within the meaning of the statute, and the prosecutor should have known that within a few days after this investigation began. So, knowing this, he proceeded with the investigation, and along the way, Libby was convicted of perjury, which impeded the investigation. Well —

RUSH: It was an unnecessary investigation. It’s a process crime.

CALLER: Yeah. Well, how can you impede an investigation into a crime that, one, was not committed, and, two, could not, in fact, have been committed? But more importantly than that, what about the attorney general and the director of the CIA? The attorney general, and more importantly the CIA director, knew that Plame was not outable within the meaning of the statute. The attorney general also knew this and, while knowing this, released a political zealot prosecutor with no boundaries, no reporting, no mandate, apparently, to prey on his own people. What is with this administration? What world are they living in?

RUSH: You’re a retired judge. You tell us what’s going on. It’s all absurd to us. This is Kafkaesque.

CALLER: Yeah, it’s shocking. The pressure on Gonzales, in light of how he allowed Libby to be thrown to the dogs, when there was no reason for it, none whatsoever. This thing could have been stopped by the director of the CIA coming out early on and simply saying, ‘We’ve determined that our employee’s position is such that she does not come within the ambit of the statute,’ and that should have been the end of this then and there.

RUSH: Look, it’s even worse than that. The whole case was based on lies told by Joe Wilson who was never held accountable for them. He’s Valerie Plame’s main squeeze. But, John, before we go here, I don’t know if you heard this earlier today, but I want to read an excerpt of a letter that Paul Wolfowitz wrote to Judge Reggie Walton asking for leniency in the sentencing of Scooter Libby. This will burn you up, because while none of the rest of this makes any sense — this judge gave this guy almost the entire sentence that the prosecutor asked for. Fitzfong asked for three years. He’s getting two and a half, and it looks like he’s going to be sent straight to jail. He’s not going to be allowed to remain free while the appeal process takes place. Here’s the excerpt from the letter that Wolfowitz wrote to the judge, asking for leniency: ‘I also remember how Mr. Libby offered his services pro bono or at reduced costs after he had returned to private law practice to help former colleagues and friends with legal issues. In one case, he helped a public official defend himself against libelous accusations, something that is extremely difficult to do for anybody in public office.

‘The official in question was Richard Armitage, who more recently served as deputy secretary of state.’

It was Richard Armitage who first leaked Valerie Plame’s identity! Scooter Libby helped bail Armitage out of problems. Armitage let Libby twist in the wind. I cannot, folks, imagine what it’s like to be Scooter Libby today. I cannot imagine what it’s like to be his family. This is such a travesty from the get-go. Now, you asked why wasn’t this case shut down when there was no need for it. At best, all you can do is guess, and my guess has always been that it was a big to-do about the independent counsel, the media was demanding, ‘Why, this woman’s identity had been leaked!’ Why, it’s the only leak that the media ever cared to get to the bottom of — and, by the way, the only time I’m aware of they really ever cared about somebody at the CIA, because they knew who she was and they knew who her husband was. They were both out trying to destroy the Bush administration; the Bush administration sat back and let it all happen. So the prosecutor gets involved, finds out there is no crime, can’t just say, ‘Sorry, no crime here.’

Everybody’s got their hopes up; expectations are high. So you begin this big investigation, and you get your indictment, and you make it look like it was all worthwhile. So there was no crime. The crime was created in the process of conducting the investigation — the alleged crime — for which Libby’s been convicted. Seriously, I cannot relate to what it must be like today to be Scooter Libby and his family. He’s gotta be questioning, ‘What good is what I’ve done for this country?’ You talk about somebody’s off everybody’s radar? Scooter Libby never hurt a soul. Scooter Libby is just one of these loyal foot soldiers in the background of the administration. It makes you wonder. You know, loyalty — in way too many places in this country — is a one-way street, and it clearly looks like it’s that way in this case. Imagine if I had a story for you that went something like this: ‘Ex-president William J. Clinton sentence to do 30 months in jail and a $250,000 fine. The speculation is over; the judge has spoken: former President Clinton sentence to do 30 months in jail, two and a half years behind bars, slapped with a quarter of a million dollar fine.’

Now, you can call this ruling the ‘Sentence Heard Round the World,’ and the tabloids scream: off to clink. The New York Times more soberly hailing the sentence as ‘appropriate, indeed necessary punishment for Clinton’s lies to a grand jury.’ Their conclusion: ‘At a time when high administration officials routinely dissemble and claim lapses of memory, immediate jail time for Mr. Clinton is the best way to send a message that obstruction of justice will be severely punished. Our justice system has been tested and it has not failed us. Historians will tell us how much the Clinton perjury affected the 2006 election and how much the Clinton jail time will affect the 2008 election.’ My friends, I’m not illustrating absurdity with absurdity. I’m illustrating absurdity with name swapping, because that’s what’s happened to Scooter Libby, and he didn’t do it. He may not have lied. It’s still a matter of question. Well, the jury says he did, so he did. We know Clinton lied to a grand jury, suborned perjury among others.

He lied under oath to a federal judge.

Try this. How about this? Try this version of the story: ‘Scooter Libby, charged with lying to a grand jury, stays on job for two more years, gets $12 million book deal, $40 million in speaking fees, and a $200 million library and has become the Democrat Party’s most favored ex-statesman roaming the world as their goodwill ambassador.’ Bill Clinton lied to a grand jury, suborned perjury. He gets 150 to $200,000 a speech, $12 million book deal, $200 million library. Scooter Libby goes to jail for two and a half years. The correct comparison here is not Scooter Libby to Sandy Burglar. It is Scooter Libby to Bill Clinton. Now, this illustration is flawed, obviously, because Clinton knowingly lied to the garbage. He did it on purpose. Libby might or might not have. So many people in the country, with apologies to Simon and Garfunkel and Mrs. Robinson, ask, ‘Where have you gone, George W.?’ They want the pardon. The White House says, ‘We’re not going to intervene. We never do until the appeals process is over.’ The people want a political witch hunt, here, corrected, and they want the president to defend his defenders. There’s still time.

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